Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here’s my daily driver list
78 Datsun 620 truck, mileage probably over 400k
85 Nissan 720 4x4 mileage 368K
71 Datsun 240z non restored survivor 300k miles
Obviously I’m a Datsun guy. I’m good with cars and Datsun are so easy to keep running, I live in California and still need to smog the 85 and 78 so both trucks are kept stock and maintained well in order to pass smog every 2 years. I save a lot of money driving my old trucks. I’ll buy a 2005-2010 Silverado maybe next year that’s a new truck to me ..
I bought her new tires a couple years ago to replace the originals. As soon as she wears them out I'll buy her a new car. Seriously, for the 1,000 (or fewer) miles she drives per year, the car she has works. It's parked in front of her place of business most days, so a new car, whether driven or not, is going to suffer the same deterioration her current car has all over again. Another reason, she surprised me with a $32,000 hospital bill a couple weeks ago. I think that was her new car. Maybe mine too.
Sorry to hear about the hospital bill. Hope your wife is OK!
You have had the same lame cars for decades. Not having a car payment hasn’t really done you any favors.
Well first off this was pretty rude and next the F150 is the highest selling car or truck in the US for several years now, this truck is hardly a "lame car".
Contrary to popular belief, you can work on a brand new modern car just as easily as an old one. The days of changing out serpentine belts and spark plugs every 30k are gone, oil changes last much longer, transmissions and coolant systems are 100k jobs now. I can now buy a software program and a cable and read any code in the cars computer and do some deep troubleshooting without even popping the hood. Canbus is a much easier system to work with than those old mechanical systems.
There’s even off the shelf software hacks to change your engine’s operating parameters.
As with anything, it’s more ignorance than actual complexity. For the vast majority of owners, they won’t know how a modern car works because it won’t break down nowhere near as often. In the old days car ownership meant you had to be mechanically inclined. Now it’s just an option.
While you're to be commended for your computer-skills, let's air a few concerns:
1. Your point about troubleshooting applies to sensor-failure, electronic signals gone awry and so forth. It does little for conventional mechanical failure, which still happens.
2. Fixing mechanical problems involves removing components that are in the way, to gain access... and then removing the components in question. The more complex the car, the more stuff there is to remove. So even if your computer-tools tell you exactly what to do, there's more work involved, just to reach say the starter or the alternator.
3. With interconnected systems, modifications are more difficult. For example, the traction control system might have a secondary throttle-body in the intake tract. It works together with the antilock brakes. You can remove this secondary throttle-body and thus gain power by removing the restriction (even with the throttle blade open, there's a pressure-loss in the flowpath), but unless you're really clever and "fool" the system, you'll also impede the function of the antilock brakes. Example: BMW E36 M3.
4. You're limited to what the factory allowed you to change. That may be large for a performance-model like say a Camaro or a Mustang, but far less for a quotidian commuter-car. Example: My girlfriend's Chevy Cruze has OK power for passing on the highway, but has an annoying throttle-by-wire delay off of the line. How to defeat it, to tighten up the throttle response? Internet says: "You're [crap] out of luck".
5. Suppose that you wish to make a major modification, such as swapping engines? In an older car, it's already a challenge, but doable. In a newer car, I can't begin to imagine the cascade of parts and programs that would have to be revised.
6. What if take your car to the race-track, and the accident-avoidance system emails home-base, saying that you're driving dangerously, voiding your warranty?
7. What if your car insists on rebooting (after receiving a software upgrade overnight)?
What possible computer work can a Tandy do nowadays?
I’ve been able to fix every computer I’ve ever owned. However fixing it is not always cheaper than just getting a new one. Parts get obsolete quickly.
Contrary to popular belief, you can work on a brand new modern car just as easily as an old one. The days of changing out serpentine belts and spark plugs every 30k are gone, oil changes last much longer, transmissions and coolant systems are 100k jobs now. I can now buy a software program and a cable and read any code in the cars computer and do some deep troubleshooting without even popping the hood. Canbus is a much easier system to work with than those old mechanical systems.
There’s even off the shelf software hacks to change your engine’s operating parameters.
As with anything, it’s more ignorance than actual complexity. For the vast majority of owners, they won’t know how a modern car works because it won’t break down nowhere near as often. In the old days car ownership meant you had to be mechanically inclined. Now it’s just an option.
Quote:
What possible computer work can a Tandy do nowadays?
Every thing the owner of a Tandy needs it to do. A computer is a (huge) calculating machine. Over the years it has been transformed into (by way of math) to function (put the key into the ignition and it just drives) as entertainment, as well. I have a trash 80. The person who gave it to me has a masters in mathematics. He demonstrated its mathematical capabilities by writing to it a quick computation code and it begin to compute. While it ran he said, "this is why I don't play the lottery". He programed it to stop compiling at certain intervals. Darn thing kept going, non stop. Most awesome site I ever saw and most certainly something I've never been able to make it do. Just because I can not get the trash 80 to function as he did, does not decrease its value for someone who can. (never under estimate anyone, that's just crazy)
I had a 1982 Chrysler Cordoba (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) with a simulated convertible top ( i drove it for 20 years) and only a limited number were made and sold. (before the internet, there was something called letter writing, I wanted to know what I had; so I wrote a letter and got a response) My exhusband, mechanic for many years, he always had to tinker with the timing and me, wishing he would leave it alone. It would drive different for a bit, but then it would go back to the same feel it had before. (i loved it) I asked some one else about this. That some one said, your exhusband doesn't know there is a chip in it. In order for him to reset the timing, he has to first disable the computer. lol
I could go through a list, rather lengthy list of cars (dodge 318s loved e'm) of cars I have driven over the years. What they all have in common (beside that 82 little bug in it) no computer. I could tell by the noise it made and be relatively close most of the time, what was wrong with it. Patterns emerge and after repeat so many times, it isn't rocket science. Even though I don't turn a wrench, I do love to learn, so I listen to those who do the work, how they troubleshoot and evaluate and I learn new things. If I listen to the car, it too, will tell me things. It's when I don't listen I get into trouble with it.
Knowing this, car makers have put in greater dummy controls. (I listen to car shows from time-to-time so I know this happens) Some times those computers will lead a mechanic far away from the actual problem itself. (software is only going to take that troubleshoot, so far) My 1987 Mazda RX7, if it needs a spark plug change, the darn thing isn't going to start and I don't have to wonder why that is, I already know.
It has safe guards from, dummy owner, that there is no way in the world, I can kill that car. It tells me long before there is a problem, there is a problem. I love the car, hate the buzzer. A sound that would wake the dead and enduring that for any length of time will drive the driver mad. With that said ...
Quote:
For the vast majority of owners, they won’t know how a modern car works because it won’t break down nowhere near as often.
I wish I had a dollar for every new car owner that walked into the parts store I use to work at, that thought the very same thing. I'd have a nicer portfolio than I do at the present. Many of 'em had to go to the dealership (the right to repair act) and pay labor, just to change a damn light bulb. Thank you, no.
If an emp hit, I'd still be able to start my car, but I'd be hard pressed to get through the mounds of (stalled out cars and trucks) steal, between my house and the store, though. For all the freedom we thought we had for over the road driving, the computer came into it, with a, not so fast ... you only think.
Some one else (liken to the trash 80) can take a 1987 Mazda RX7 and make it do things, I can only dream of and you know what, knowing that make me like the car even more, with a, I wish I could afford to park it ...
Old car enthusiast (even the young ones) never die, some go on to acquire more. A person doesn't need to understand it, they don't even need to have a taste for it, but just know the automotive industry appreciates it, as well as all those employed that help keep it alive.
If I had a 67 Shelby or a 64 1/2 Mustang, I'd think I had died and gone to heaven. But maybe that's just me.
Have not had a daily driver car older than 10 years since I was a teenager.
I never had one. My first car was a 1969 Dodge Coronet (4/door, 11 years at the time) with mag wheels. There was power under that hood --- those were the days. I could go a little over 10.2 miles in about 7 minutes, as I was always running late to work. Could have made better time if it hadn't been for traffic.
I've always liked fast cars. I grew up in the muscle car era, what can I say ...
I had a 1979 Mustang. It had over 400k miles when it finally died. Loved that car. And I had a 1986 Ranger that died back in August after someone sabotaged it. It only had 168k on it when it went.
Here’s my daily driver list
78 Datsun 620 truck, mileage probably over 400k
85 Nissan 720 4x4 mileage 368K
71 Datsun 240z non restored survivor 300k miles
Obviously I’m a Datsun guy. I’m good with cars and Datsun are so easy to keep running, I live in California and still need to smog the 85 and 78 so both trucks are kept stock and maintained well in order to pass smog every 2 years. I save a lot of money driving my old trucks. I’ll buy a 2005-2010 Silverado maybe next year that’s a new truck to me ..
Rex
Get the h*ll outta here!!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Seriously, for the 1,000 (or fewer) miles she drives per year, the car she has works. It's parked in front of her place of business most days, so a new car, whether driven or not, is going to suffer the same deterioration her current car has all over again. Another reason, she surprised me with a $32,000 hospital bill a couple weeks ago. I think that was her new car. Maybe mine too.
